IBM and Toshiba are preparing the second-generation Cell processor that will run at almost twice the speed of the current
chip.
The Cell processors are currently in Sony's new PlayStation 3
game console and IBM's QS20 blade servers. Their opeartion
frequency is 3.2GHz, but the second-gen Cell will be clocked at
almost 6GHz.
The information was revealed in the program (PDF) for the 2007
IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, which is
taking place in San Francisco in February 11-15.
"The new POWER6 microprocessor combines ultra-high frequency
operation, aggressive power reduction, a highly scalable memory
subsystem, and mainframe-like reliability, availability, and
serviceability," according to IBM.
The 341mm2 700M transistor dual-core microprocessor is fabricated
in a 65nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process with 10 levels of
low-k copper interconnect. It operates at clock frequencies over
5GHz in high-performance applications, and consumes under 100W in
power-sensitive applications.
Despite being clocked at 5-6GHz, the chip will also require just
1.3V, which is within the same range as Intel's current dual-core
processors.